4th US Vice President, 1st Governor of New York, and Revolutionary War General. He served as the US Vice President under Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, the only person to have ever served in that office under two different presidents other than John C. Calhoun. He was born in Little Britain, New York. He enlisted in the British Army to fight against the French in the French and Indian War (also known as the Seven Years War), and rose to the rank of lieutenant. After the war, he studied law and became the county clerk for Ulster County, New York and also served in the New York Provincial Assembly for Ulster County from 1768 to 1776. On March 25, 1777 he was commissioned a brigadier general in the Continental Army and a month later, he was elected Governor of New York, serving continuously in that position until 1795. While governor, he retained his military commission, commanding forces at Fort Clinton and Fort Montgomery, both in the state of New York. He remained in the Continental Army until it disbanded on November 3, 1783. He opposed the adoption of the new US Constitution in 1787-1788 but withdrew his objections after the Bill of Rights was added. In 1792 he was chosen by the Democratic-Republican party as their candidate for the US Vice Presidency but was defeated in the electoral voting by John Adams. He was elected to the New York State Assembly in 1800 and again in 1801, and was again elected Governor of New York, serving until 1804, when he was chosen as Thomas Jefferson's running mate in the 1804 Presidential election. He served as the US Vice President under President Thomas Jefferson from 1805 to 1809 and again under President James Madison from 1809 until April 20, 1812, when he died of a heart attack, becoming the first US Vice President to die in office. He was originally buried in Washington DC, but was re-interred in Kingston, New York, in 1908. He was the brother of Continental Revolutionary War General James Clinton and uncle of future New York governor, DeWitt Clinton. (bio by: William Bjornstad)